The Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, which was established in 1969, is a subordinate office of the Ministry of H.R.D (Dept. of education) Govt. of India. It has been charged with the dual responsibility of (a) implementation of three-language formula and (b) promotion and development of all Indian languages, including tribal and boarder languages, to meet the challenge of the approaching twenty first century. In fulfilment of this responsibility the Institute has been developing innovative language teaching as well as research materials.
Of late the Institute has been called upon by various State Governments and Agencies to develop materials for mother tongue teaching. Thus, it has developed a set of teaching materials for Andaman Nicobar Islands and other tribal belts and has been preparing a computerised data base in Indian languages. In order to make pre-primary and primary schooling more interesting and livelier it has been seriously working on the preparation of (i) a book of nursery rhymes and (ii) a collection of language games in each of the Indian languages. The present volume Momorangi Mayna Khurang is a collection of 108 nursery rhymes in Rabha, written by a group of native writers. Incidentally this is our first publication in the language. It is gratifying to note that Meghalaya Rabha Association has asked for 5000 copies of this book. The Institute will feel rewarded if this book is received well by the Rabha people in Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal.
The child makes pre-linguistic hoises before he/she utters linguistic sounds as he/she docs scribbling before writing. Though singing is not speaking as drawing is not writing, it helps production of linguistic sounds including suprasegmental ones like rhythm. Nursery rhymes come in between pre-linguistic babbles and acquisition of language. Practice with nursery rhymes is a pre-school experience and exercise, and it prepares the child to be ready for schooling the nursery rhymes are similar to pre-literacy skills of drawing to prepare the child for the school.
While there is growing children's literature in Indian languages much attention has not been paid to nursery rhymes. This gap is often filled by nursery rhymes in English particularly in urban middle-class homes and this is encouraged in the English medium nursery schools. It is necessary for a child as part of her socialization process to experience and to learn sounds of her native language. This experience is the first step towards love for his/her language.
To counter the influence of the hotly sought English medium in the nursery and primary schools, it is very necessary to provide good nursery schools in Indian language media. This will be more effective than legal measures. Nursery rhymes in Indian languages will be an important component of such nursery schools.
With these ideas in mind, the Institute prepared nursery rhymes in various Indian languages including tribal languages through workshops in which creative writers and teachers of the language concerned and linguists participated. They have found it a rewarding experience as we have. With great enthusiasm and devotion and concern for the child and for the language, they created literally hundreds of rhymes in these workshops. The entire collection will serve as a repertoire or resource book for the teachers and parents to draw from. We also expect that short-selected books of rhymes with attractive visuals could be brought out in all Indian languages to be placed in the hands of the children themselves. We also hope that audio cassettes will be prepared to accompany the printed book.
We will be happy if these rhymes are sung in homes, in schools and in the streets. This will be a significant step for planting Indian languages in the young minds for them to grow.
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